Yes idiot boy, it is, especially now that BRD has access to awesome nuking sets.
But it's gonna be a melee DD thread for the moment.

Thanks Bruno for all the time he spent putting up this guide.
Nice job man! ;)

Today's patch is going to add 7 new sets of armour, at least a couple should be accessible by BRD as well.
These sets will be augmentable with "Arcane Glyphics", which kinda implies fixed augments.
Wonder if any of those items will be able to replace the awesomeness of Telchine, which can sometimes be pretty frustrating (and expensive!) to achieve.

I've been intrigued in how BRD has progressed and I think it really could morph itself into a more hybrid job. To that aim I would suggest changing the recommended augments from only attack to attack / accuracy because these days accuracy has become paramount. The /NIN vs /DNC vs /WHM(RDM) also brings up a good point, are you being hasted by another entity or are you responsible for your own haste? How does the loss of 10 dual wield factor into providing 5% haste for yourself and other melees? That starts to make me think /DNC might be the best hybrid-DD sub for when your in a party.

So far from the .dat mine, Blurred Knife+1 looks like it could be pretty good depending on OAT rate. If not for DPS itself then for Haste utility, neo-Oynos Knife. I'm also assuming Nibiru Knife can be augmented, EX only.

Onca Suit looks like it could be nice for Accuracy TP builds, probably some other uses too.

Onca Suit looks like a pretty nice starting gear for DD. Potentially really good if you don't want to mess up with the RNG game of Telchine.

It's slightly less "good" for BRD because of the nice selection of DD items we get, but for other jobs where it's Telchine or Die (like dd GEO) that suit is gonna be really nice.
Wonder where it drops though?

Blurred Knife +1 probably gonna be BiS if the rate is the same as other similar weapons.
Nibiru depends on types of augments.
For the armour... nothing seemed particularly dd-oriented, but then again it depends on the 4 augment paths I guess.
First 3 are shared among all pieces of a set, 4th is different from slot to slot.

Didn't see any other upgrade for ddBRD.
Maybe something for normal brd (macc, debuff etc, but then again it depends on the sort of augments you can get in there)

just noticed I had sets flip-flopped, I had the Ionis TP set under Standard and vice versa with applicable augments...anyways, fixed, don't know how I messed that up.

I'm thinking of adding a Trust section for alter egos that cast Haste. I've noticed that only some that have access to Haste will cast it on you when you're on BRD, while some refuse to. So far, I know that Apururu (UC)/Cherukiki/Ferreous Coffin will give you Haste, and I know that Koru-Moru/Karaha-Baruha/obviously Rainemard won't. I still have yet to try to test Ingrid with too. Anyone with Arciela able to confirm she'll Haste II? I don't have her yet, I'm working on it :(

besides that not much, I thought at first that demersal degen +1 would have been a good offhand...mainly since Joyeuse was one of our best offhands at 75 and even a little higher...but looking into it more, doesn't seem that great.

MDT-4% on each Gendewitha piece, MDT-5% M.Eva+10 on Artsieq Hat, MDT-5% M.Eva+15 on Linos.
Linos can probably get more M.Eva as other Snow- stone augments have been shown to go to +20, but just going by the official skirmish threads/pages.

need 26% to cap w/ Shell V, same augments as the above. With merited Shellra V, need 23% to cap, if you wanted most optimization could swap out Linos for Vanir Battery and Mujin Stud for Etiolation or Merman's to stay capped and get an extra +2 MDB.

admittedly most of the mag eva pieces were made for my geo, but basically provide the same benefit to all my mage jobs (pet regen is just because i felt like it was the best aug i had gotten, i think for a non geo set cure recieved might be the best 3rd augment, with either AGI or MND (or even int) augments for eva, meva/potency down, and magic dmg taken effects of those stats.

so obviously A is better for when Acc is needed, B is better for when it is not..C could have some uses but I'll have to look into it further, and D for DPS is N/A really.

I threw it in my spreadsheet and it looks like, besides Carnwenhan, they're best-in-slot overall to DW two of them on higher level targets. Messed around with A*2 and they were mostly better than other options. Even an un-augmented Nibiru looked like a better offhand over Ternion+1 paired with a mainhand Ipetam. so this definitely looks worth getting.

If you just plan on doing one path, ultimately A is probably most useful, it covers Accuracy situations and still gives a pretty hefty Attack boost to come close to B where you don't need Accuracy. Strictly path-wise, B would be better than A in that situation, but max augmented Ipetam is best then anyways. This just accentuates that A is the path most worth doing since B is beaten when it is the better path. You could still use a B-Niburu to offhand with Ipetam, but not entirely worth the effort. Plus, when you get to fodder your attack caps on, you're better off using somethin like OAT Atoyac instead. Path A looks like the way to go.

Sechs said:

Blurred Dagger +1

Don't know the OAT rate, but if it's anything like most OA2x weapons it should be like 40%. If you go off that, (putting the Haste proc aside) it's okay, a little better than Atoyac but not amazing. It's probably best used as a neo-Oynos swapping in and out of for Haste utility

Sechs said:

Demersal Degen +1

Also assuming the proc is 40% for this still, so going off this I also threw it in my spreadsheet, and before even making it a sword, as a dagger it wasn't any better than like Ternion+1, then I didn't bother converting it after that lol. So on paper it doesn't look too great if it has that OAT rate.

Aside from that, unless you ALREADY have a perfect aug Ipetam, if someone were to start gathering DD gear today, I would suggest not to bother and to just get 2x Nibiru.
Going path A or B or mixed it's gonna be hard to suggest, but I think whatever you choose the final result should be pretty close regardless.

I wonder how double Nibiru compares to Carn/Ternion (or Carn/Nibiru?).
Carn should still win in situations where you can manage to get AM3 up, but in fights that are too quick probably double Nibiru is gonna win. Which is sad, but oh well.

Bruno are you getting some strange results about the comparison between Mythic Mordant vs Rudra?
In the spreadsheet I get that at 2000 TP Rudra should always be better than Mordant.
Yet when I use it in game (technically it's 2250 since I have Moonshade) Mordant is always better unless I miss a hit.
It takes something like 2500+ for Rudra to be better and this kinda goes against the results I'm seeing in the spreadsheet.
Wonder if something is wrong in the WS damage formulas.
You experiencing this as well?

From new gear, all of the Lustratio (Hecatomb V2) all seem like really awesome WS pieces, not to mention the Heca model looks baller too. will probably lower the amount of Telchine pieces that are best in slot by quite a bit! The head/hands/legs/feet all look best for Rudra's/Evis, and the body gives a huge amount of Acc for them when needed.

Eabani Earring(DW+4) with Suppa seems to replace DW set earrings

Ishvara Earring(WSD+2%) looks like it could be the best earring for Rudra's to go with Moonshade

Also Sulla Belt(Attack+30) looks like it could be a better option than Prosilio+1 for AM3 Rime, given the circumstance.

Aside from that, unless you ALREADY have a perfect aug Ipetam, if someone were to start gathering DD gear today, I would suggest not to bother and to just get 2x Nibiru.
Going path A or B or mixed it's gonna be hard to suggest, but I think whatever you choose the final result should be pretty close regardless.

I wonder how double Nibiru compares to Carn/Ternion (or Carn/Nibiru?).
Carn should still win in situations where you can manage to get AM3 up, but in fights that are too quick probably double Nibiru is gonna win. Which is sad, but oh well.

this was my mistake, I only briefly glanced at Nibirus on my spreadsheet, I put in their combat skill to effect both hands, not just the mainhand, which is why they looked so insanely good lol. with it fixed, perfect Ipetam/Ternion+1 and Carn/Ternion still look best, although Nibiru is a very good mainhand alternative

Bruno are you getting some strange results about the comparison between Mythic Mordant vs Rudra?
In the spreadsheet I get that at 2000 TP Rudra should always be better than Mordant.
Yet when I use it in game (technically it's 2250 since I have Moonshade) Mordant is always better unless I miss a hit.
It takes something like 2500+ for Rudra to be better and this kinda goes against the results I'm seeing in the spreadsheet.
Wonder if something is wrong in the WS damage formulas.
You experiencing this as well?

I suppose it's possible they're wrong, I don't yet personally have Carn to test in-game, but on my spreadsheet with optimal sets, I get Rudra's winning in WS DMG earlier, like 1600~ TP, about a 100 dmg difference or so, and then the gap gets bigger from there. With this new gear it's winning at around ~1400 TP, Mordant Rime didn't get much this update :(

I'm not sure what our differences could be that we're getting varying results =/ Is the gap big between the two in your spreadsheet? Also what target(s) are you comparing with in your spreadsheet, and are your results still the same when switching targets? For me it's pretty consistent with any target, except obviously when it gets to like Chapuli (100) and lower, Rudra's starts winning at earlier TPs. Not sure if outside buffs would change it much but, for me I just have Marches and food, toggling Ionis closes the gap a little bit, does more for Rime than for Rudra's it seems. AM3 up and down also doesn't skew the difference a great deal.

Oh also new gloves, Leyline Gloves.
If they are augmentable (I dunno atm, do they drop from Sinister Reign?) they could be interesting. As it stands now they could still be interesting for other purposes (general BRD thread, not DD one)

Also there's the Lustratio set.
For Rudra's Storm many pieces are gonna be BiS.
Some might be cool for Mordant Rime as well, I dunno, it has to be tested.

We still don't know the augments you can put on these items.
I can see them becoming the BiS for WSs though.

This still being updated? I'm curious if Onca Suit is BiS for TPing, and if not, why? I've never used the spreadsheet, but as it seems to me on paper;

You can combine an Onca Suit with a Telchine Cap augmented with +15 ACC/ATK, +3% Haste, and +7 STR/DEX augments. Without even taking an augmented Linos into consideration for the Onca set, this gives you a total of

This still being updated? I'm curious if Onca Suit is BiS for TPing, and if not, why?

Despite my expectations, it seems that Onca + head is the best for other mages (like my ddGEO). There's some tests in the last pages of the GEO thread if you're curious.
ddBRD is another story though. BRD gets access to a lot more dd items than other mages do, so I'm not really sure if Onca can be the best for BRD as well.
We got Bihu Body +1, several head (Lithelimb for acc, Highwing for the rest), some high haste hands (Umuthi), and so on.
It would need to be tested, but I haven't had the time to do so yet.

Onca + Highwing Helm would be 2% short of haste (well 3%...) to cap haste. Or you could augment Telchine head with haste+3 instead of DA, or you could put haste on Linos, or use a haste belt, or a haste back and so on.

Going about Taming Sari, I can only say that with bad augments they are inferior to Carn+Offhand with AM3 up, big difference (around 100 dps if not more).
With AM3 down they are very nice even unaugmented.
With best augments they might be better even than Carns+OH with AM3 up, not sure.
I didn't math this last part on Spreadsheet, just parsed my damage for around 30 mins with and 30 mins without with same setup on Bats in Woh Gates #2.

Managed to get it with +2 stones. Wonder if it's "exclusive" to +2 stones or if I just was unlucky? Leaning for the latter.

Anyway, back to DD business.
Last time I checked stuff was before the Ru'Aun gods patch. Before that, I found out that despite the gear I had gathered for BRD, going with Onca+Head option (Telchine augmented with +haste so that you cna use a DW or a Windbuffet belt proved to be the best for me) was outparsing all other options, even perfect augment Telchine.
Things were slightly different for WS, but not so much to justify all that gil spent and inventory slots.

Dagger-wise we still have Taming Sari as an awesome option if you're one of the lucky ones with perf augs, but the Reisenjima T2 dagger can yield nice results as well.
Let us not forget about updated Carnwenhan though, that's likely going to become once again the best mainhand option.

Gear-wise I'd like to do some tests and see if the new options we received can provide better results than Onca+Head.
I'll leave outside accessory slots because they do not conflict with that. I.e. can use them with te Onca+Head setup. As far as I remember there's a new Crit ring for Evisceration from T1 Reisenjima, DW belt from Kouryu, TA ring from T3 Reisenjima Maju, Warder neck (acc/att+15, STP+5 if you can/want to give up the multiattack in this slot).
Well arguably some of the new att/stp/acc earrings too I guess, like Telos etc.

New options we received now.

Head
Chironic head is an interesting child. +15 base accuracy on it, augmentable with up to +30 acc AND +30 attack. That's way better than Telchine (augmentable with up to +15 both, or +20 Acc OR Att)
Can also put DW (up to +4/5) for TP builds, allowing you to cap attack delay with /DNC (additional acc compared to /NIN) when you get it in a couple of pieces.
Alternatively you can get DA +3/4.
Can also get STR or DEX +10/15

Body
Reiki Osode can arguably be a valid alternative to Bihu+1 body. You lose att but gain much more acc and lots of base stats. If not for TP (need to math it out) it's gonna be interesting at least for WS.
There's Chironic too and with capped augments it could be a nice option but it's gonna be a smaller upgrade compared to the other slots where we had worst options pre-chironic.

Hands
Chironic hands are in a similar position to head. They offer +15 acc straight off, and same possible augments.
Only other new option is Kobo Kote (Seiryu kote v2). They could be okaysh for Evisceration and possibly Exenterator if you're into Aeonic and want to use lolExenterator.

Legs
Aside from Querkening Brais which are a decent TP/WS option but mostly used for song precast in place of perf aug Gendewitha/+1, there's Jokushu Haidate. Byakko v2.
Aside from nice thunder meva and meva+80 which are nice but do not contribute to your DPS, they offer massive amounts of DEX (for Rudra, Evis and in a way Mordant Rime too) which also converts to +ddex crit and Acc, but also Crit hit +4% which is gonna be awesome for Evisceration and frankly for DD in general.
Last but not least they offer 20% haste. Such a huge amount of haste means you can equip other mage items in the other slots (which usually offer less haste than DD pieces) and still cap haste without needing a haste belt.
For instance with Chironic and Telchine in the other 4 slots, you can augment for DA/DW without worrying about not reaching haste cap.
Quite a nice option.
There's Chironic as well but it grants no base stats for DD, just the augments. I feel if anything Jokushu should be the option to be aiming for in this slot.

Feet
Chironic feet offer +20 att base, plus the stuff you can get from augments.
Afaik there's no other new feet option worth mentioning aside from those we already had before (Aug telchine, Battlecast Gaiters etc)

tl;dr
Chironic looks very awesome at least for Head, Hands and Feet, especially if used with Jokushu Haidate.
Reiki Osode is an interesting option, Chironic Body could get really nice with the right augments but probably not a priority over the other 3 slots since Bihu+1 is already quite good to begin with.
I feel such a setup would totally be better than the Telchine+Onca option I mentioned before, which is often underestimated and likely still second place in the DD gear hierarchy.
Only good thing Onca+Telchine option has over this new one, is the inventory saving and the fact you can share it with other ddMage jobs, whereas Chironic can't be equipped by GEO for instance, another mage which can lead to good results while dualwielding clubs.

Anybody started wondering about DD capes for BRD?
For the moment I won't be able to get multiple ones so I'll be forced to get a single "compromise" cape to use in TP and WS situations.
Thinking about:

DEX+20
Acc/Att+20
DA+10

I'm a bit uncertain about the last slot. For a "normal" ddBRD that's gonna be the winner, but for a Carnwenhan ddBRD? Maybe STP would be better when you have AM3 up? Should test it but I'm lazy.
Think I'm gonna go with DA regardless.

If you aren't Dual Wielding, yes, STP would be much better. If you are DWing, they're a bit closer, though making the 3rd stat Dual Wield would be worth considering depending on what situation you usually find yourself DD BRDing in and your subjob (/NIN or /DNC) of choice.

Given how I have to make a compromise (only one cape for ddBRD, at least for now) I think DA+10 would be the best compromise in terms of all possible situations I can encounter.

Out of habit I tend to be /NIN or /DNC even when I'm not DDing btw (just so I can dualwield a Kali and get more macc/chr and 5% additional song duration)

Do you guys dd on BRD with ilevel Byakko legs + a mixture of Augmented Chironic stuff? Maybe AF2 Body or Kirin body?
I'm still dding with Onca + Telchine Head (augmented with haste+3 to cap gear haste without relying on cape/belt)

Haven't looked at DD BRD in a long time, but from a quick glance I'd probably default to Onca if you don't need accuracy and swap to Alhazen Hat +1/Reiki Osode/Jokushu Haidate/Chironic x2 if you do. Assuming 25 Acc 3 DA on both Chironic pieces (been a while since I did Melee Chironic augmenting, but I think those are fair value assumptions) it comes down to 29 acc and 4 crit rate on Chironic/Reiki/Jokushu/Alhazen vs 4 DA, a bunch of att and defensive measures on Onca/Telchine.